The match against West Ham was ugly in a number of ways for Chelsea FC. The Blues could not maintain possession for long periods of time and their defending was terrible at times. Both teams missed sitters right in front of goal and were it not for a few last ditch tackles by Gary Cahill and Didier Drogba, Chelsea FC could have easily lost this match by two goals. Jose Mourinho however decided to focus on the positives and praise his defense for winning and dealing with what he called “difficult moments”.
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Mourinho acknowledged that it was a tough match to play against a good side just days after winning the League Cup. He knew that Chelsea FC was not at its best and said, “When good football is not enough, we fight, we suffer together, we cope with difficult moments. It was not the best game to play after the final. The final is more than a game, because of tension, pressure and emotions.”
He gave much of the credit to his defense and all of his players for giving their all on defense because “it’s a game where you easily can lose two points”. He rued the Blues’ missed chances and said, “We had chances to kill the game. We were expecting that. We didn’t and when you don’t do that against West Ham you are in permanent danger. Great victory for us.”
Chelsea FC did indeed have its fair share of chances to kill of the game but could not take them. Diego Costa was through on goal but delayed long enough to get tackled and miss, Ramires was literally inches shy of putting it out of reach, and Willian could have settled Chelsea FC fans’ blood pressure if he scored with just a few minutes remaining in regular time.
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On the flip side of that, West Ham were equally wasteful in front of goal and were denied through a mix of last-ditch defending, Thibaut Courtois, and their own misfiring. Diafra Sakho and several other West Ham players were all equally guilty of spurning golden chances but they could not get it done when it mattered most.
It was a strange game that was exciting for the neutrals but incredibly frustrating for fans of either club. It was the type of game that would have ended 0-0 or 1-0 in favor of West Ham last season but Chelsea FC got incredibly lucky at times and somehow pulled it out with that one goal advantage. The win takes them that one step closer to the magic number of 91 and it was a very hard fought if not well deserved three points.
Photos by @cfcunoffical. On Twitter and at CFCUnofficial.com